1905-11-29 THE RUSSIAN CRISIS

London Times,
29 November 1905, p. 5: THE RUSSIAN CRISIS. /DISAFFECTION IN THE FORCES. (FROM
A CORRESPONDENT.) ST. PETERSBURG, NOV. 28.

The Government has decided to
suppress the revolt at Sevastopol. The mutineers are given till to-night to
surrender. Meanwhile a state of siege is proclaimed, and unless, contrary to
all expectations, the insugents give way, General Neplineff, who has been
appointed Commander-in-Chief, will have to give battle to-morrow.

All Russia breathlessly awaits the
result. Judging from information available here, the issue will not be
favourable to the Government. The mutineers hold all but two forts and the best
part of the squadron which refused to obey the orders to put to sea. The
evident desire of the mutineers to preserve an outward semblance of respect for
the Imperial family is attributed here to the crafty councels of their
revolutionary friends. Thus Sevastopol was treated yesterday, on the occasion
of the Empress Dowager’s birthday, to the usual parade, and the boatswain who
was in command drank the health of the Imperial family. The famous Lieutenant
Schmidt, who has taken command of the Otchakoff, was recently cashiered for
delivering a speech in honour of the “victims of the cause of freedom.”

The correspondent of the Novoe
Vremya alone persists in telegraphing optimistic reports. He says that the
revolt is breaking up, and that many sailors are deserting. Pickets, however,
come into the town and recapture them, and they are beaten and locked in cells.

My Moscow correspondent telegraphs
the following message, printed in to-day’s Russkoe Slovo: – “Sevastopol,
Nov. 27. The battleships Tri Sviatitelia and Rostislav have joined the mutineers.”
The Russ publishes the following message from Sevastopol last night: – “Admiral
Chukhnin has visited the warships except the Otchakoff, but was not everywhere
received. Troops are occupying the town. A deputation of the fortress visited
the sailors, who gave them an enthusiastic reception. The squadron refused to
obey the orders to leave. To-morrow will be the decisive day. It is presumed
that, if force is used against the sailors, the squadron will destroy the town.
The panic continues and the inhabitants are fleeing. The railway is still
closed.”

The St. Petersburg labour delegates
have telegraphed to Sevastopol congratulating the mutineers and bidding them
continue the fight against Tsardom. A league for the regeneration of the navy
has been formed here. According to the Novoe Vremya, a political meeting
was held in the outskirts of St. Petersburg at which soldiers and sailors took
part.

A telegram from Vladivostok says
that a mutiny broke out among the prisoners returning on board the Voronezh,
which was also conveying Admiral Rozhdestvensky. The recent outbreak among the
men who have returned from Port Arthur was due to their bad treatment. They
were herded together, isolated from the other troops, and were kept under
greater restraint than in Japan. The men also are aggrieved because they
consider that, under the Tsar’s promise to count every month of siege for a
year of service, they should have been instantly freed from service and sent
back to their homes. The Vladivostok correspondent of the Novoe Vremya
distorts the facts, and alleges that the unrest was due to the evil influences
to which the men were subjected while in Japan.

The newspapers report numerous
arrests of officers at Kharbin. General Linevitch is said to have expelled 150
agitators from the army. A telegram from Tiflis says that the sappers have
presented demands to the authorities. Two officers of the Moscow garrison have
been reduced to the ranks for attending the funeral of a Socialist named
Bauman, who was killed by the Black Hundred.

ST.
PETERSBURG, NOV. 29.*

Last night 280 soldiers of the
Military school of Electricity were arrested by four battalions of the
Pavlovsky Regiment and removed to the fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul.